Marcus Allen’s SB XVIII performance
January 22, 1984 the Los Angeles Raiders took the field in Tampa, Florida to face the 14-2 Washington Redskins led by Head Coach Joe Gibbs, and NFL MVP Joe Theismann. The Raiders, who’s potent offense and stingy defense boasted a 12-4 record, and were led by Head Coach Tom Flores, who had recently beaten the Philadelphia Eagles in Super Bowl XV.
In this game, the Raiders had a lot of familiar faces, including quarterback Jim Plunkett and wide receiver Cliff Branch. The Redskins were favored by three points to win this game, and within the first half of the game, this was determined to be a mistake by oddsmakers. The Raiders dominated in every aspect of the game, through the air, on defense, on special teams, but most notably on the ground.
Raiders star running back Marcus Allen demoralized the Washington defense, as his 20 carries for 191 yards and two touchdowns was made even more impressive by his nearly ten yards per carry average. While Allen’s nearly two hundred yards was impressive , also was his seventy-four yard touchdown run that came with 7:06 left in the third quarter.
Allen took the handoff from Plunkett and took off to the left, as Allen raced towards the sideline he was met by a wall of Redskins defenders, Allen quickly turned to the right and took off toward the open sideline driving the ball up the field for a 74 yard touchdown which at that time was named a super bowl record.
Is Marcus Allen's 74-yard Super Bowl scamper the NFL's most amazing run?@NFLFilms thinks so — and we're not arguing. #NFLTop10 https://t.co/FSTjLSX9WL
— Las Vegas Raiders (@Raiders) November 22, 2017